How to Reduce WhatsApp Storage or Mobile Data Usage (and More)
In this post, you’ll see the steps to reduce your WhatsApp mobile data usage and storage.
You’ll also see the steps to clear the cache and data of WhatsApp and how to view network usage and reset statistics on WhatsApp.
You can’t do these tasks on the Desktop app and Web. Let’s start.
Reduce WhatsApp Storage Space
iPhone
In the WhatsApp”Settings,” tap “Storage and Data” and “Manage Storage.”
You can now see the “WhatsApp Media” and “Apps and Other Items” use how much of your iPhone storage and the free space available.
You can also see the conversations under the “Chats” section and how much storage they occupied beside them. Use the “Search” option if you wish.
Tap the conversation you prefer, and you’ll see the media items. If you wish, use the icon at the bottom left to sort. The options are Newest, Oldest, and Largest.
Hit “Select” on the top right to select the media files. To pick all, hit the “Select All” button at the bottom. The “Star” icon at the bottom left to star or unstar them.
Hit the “Trash can” icon at the bottom right.
If none of the chosen items is starred, you’ll see “Delete Items” and “Delete Items and Any Copies.” The former deletes chosen items, and the latter deletes selected items and their copies.
In case, if all the selected items are starred, you’ll see the “Delete All” option, which removes all of them.
If you’ve selected items that include starred and not starred, you’ll view these options: “Delete All Except Starred” and “Delete All.” Choose the one you prefer.
Android
Go to WhatsApp Settings. Hit “Storage and data” between “Notifications” and “App language.”
Hit “Manage storage.”
You can see the “WhatsApp Media” and “Apps and other items” use how much of your storage and the free space available.
You can also see the conversations under the “Chats” section and how much storage space they occupy beside them. Use “Search” if you wish.
Tap the WhatsApp chat you prefer and see the media items.
The “Filter” icon at the top right has the Newest, Oldest, and Largest options. Use it if you wish.
The “Select all” option is to select all, and if you want to choose an individual item, long-press it.
After the selection, you can see two icons at the top right.
- Star: To star or unstar the selected items.
- Trash can: For removing the selected items from your WhatsApp media. But remember that they may still be saved on your Android device.
Hit the latter.
If any items you want to remove are starred items, select “Delete starred items” and hit “Delete.”
Else, hit “Delete.”
See: How to Clear Chat on WhatsApp
View Network Usage and Reset Statistics on WhatsApp
iPhone
In WhatsApp, hit “Settings” at the bottom and “Storage and Data.” Under the “Network” section, hit “Network Usage,” and you’ll see:
The “Messages” section has Sent, Received, Bytes Sent, and Bytes Received. As the section name shows, this is all about WhatsApp messages.
“Chat Media” and “Status Media” has Bytes Sent and Received. As the section name shows, the former is all about the media of chats, and the latter is all about the media of the statuses.
The “WhatsApp Calls” section has Outgoing, Incoming, Bytes Sent, Bytes Received, and Total Time. As the section name shows, this is all about WhatsApp calls.
“Total Bytes” section, which has “Sent” and “Received.” As the section name shows, this is the total of all the above.
Hit the “Reset Statistics” option to reset all of the above. In the pop-up, hit “Reset Statistics.”
Beneath this option, you can see when the last reset happened.
Android
In WhatsApp, tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner.
Hit Settings > Storage and data > Network usage.
You can see the “Total usage” at the top with the “Sent” and “Received” beneath it.
Below, you can view Calls, Media, Google Drive, Messages, Status, and Roaming. In each one of them, you can view the sent and received.
You can see the number of your sent and received beneath the “Messages” and “Status.” and incoming and outgoing beneath the “Calls.”
At the bottom, hit the “Reset statistics” option to reset all the above. You can see this message in the pop-up: Reset network usage statistics.
Hit “Reset.”
Beneath this option, you can see when the last reset happened.
Clear WhatsApp Cache or Data (Android)
Open the “Settings” app and hit “Apps.” Select “See all X apps.” X is a number.
Find “WhatsApp” and hit it. You’re in WhatsApp’s “App info” screen.
Select “Storage & cache.” You can now see these two buttons:
- Clear cache: Hit this one to delete the cache of the WhatsApp app. That’s it.
- Clear storage: Hit this one to clear the WhatsApp data. In the confirmation pop-up, you will see this message:
Delete app data? This app’s data, including files and settings, will be permanently deleted from this device
If you’re okay with that, hit the “Delete” option, and that’s all.
Notes:
In the “Space used” section, you can see “Cache,” which shows you the WhatsApp cache size.
Here are the alternate methods to reach the WhatsApp “App info” screen
- Open the WhatsApp app and go to the opened apps screen. Hit the “WhatsApp” icon and see the “App info” and “Pause app” options. Hit the former, and you can see this screen.
- Long-press the “WhatsApp” icon and tap the “Info” icon.
Reduce WhatsApp Mobile Data Usage
You need to do three tasks to reduce the data usage of WhatsApp. Here are they:
The first one is to disable the automatic download of the media, and the second one is setting WhatsApp not to back up while your device is on a cellular data connection.
The third one is to enable the “Use less data for calls” option to save data on WhatsApp voice and video calls. Here’s how:
Launch the WhatsApp app. On Android, hit the three vertical dots at the top.
Select Settings > Storage and data. Turn on “Use less data for calls.”
